When Love is Done
by macaroni and cheese
Summary: Rewrite of ATWOTA. MWPP era 6th Year. The Marauders are growing up and their lives are changing. When pranks and tricks lose their desire, the gang begin to explore new ways to pass the time. LJ, Love interests for Remus and Sirius. Fun, but serious
1. A New Beginning

This is a rewrite of a story I wrote a few years back called "A Tangled Web of Teenage Angst." It can be found under my old pen name (See my new profile). I have always wanted to rewrite it and now I've graduated school I have the time.  
This story is set in MWPP era, during the Marauders 6th year. The title is taken from the following quote which I think ties in with the story.

"_The night has a thousand eyes,  
And the day but one;  
Yet the light of the bright world dies  
With the dying sun.  
The mind has a thousand eyes,  
And the heart but one:  
Yet the light of a whole life dies  
When love is done."_  
Francis William Bourdillon

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* * *

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**Chapter 1  
****A New Beginning**

Sirius Black rolled over in bed, thrusting his head under his pillow to block out the screams of his mother.

"Regulus, I can't believe you did not make Prefect. I understand that Sirius had no chance, but you deserve it. Why didn't you try?"

He smiled to himself and gave up on trying to get back to sleep.

"Kreacher." He called. "Bring me some tea."

A scowling house-elf walked into his room. "Yes, Master." He spat and trudged downstairs. Sirius wished he were back in Portugal playing Quidditch with his best friend and fellow Marauder, James Potter. Instead he was back at the most unhomely home listening to his most unmotherly mother yell at his most unbrotherly brother. How he wished he could escape this hell.

But on the bright side, it was only one more days until school. Sirius groaned at the thought of that one day and pushed himself out of bed.

After Sirius was dressed and ready for another boring day, he realised that Kreacher had forgotten him, so he traipsed downstairs to make his own breakfast. Kreacher was cleaning his mother's shoes. He gave the elf a kick on his way to the stove.

Sirius was glad to get out of the house. Once he had passed his mother and her endless questions, he made his way to a house of fun and food, a house with new surprises everyday. He made his way to Ebony's house.

…/…

Ebony Wiccapot was easily the most popular girl in school for many reasons. The main one being that she was the only dealer of wiccapot in Hogwarts. Wiccapot's had been selling wiccapot at Hogwarts since Ebony's Great, great Grandfather John Murphy had been a student there. He had made the discovery of a magical drug, often referred to as Magic Marijuana, but officially named Wiccapot. John changed his name to Wiccapot and manufactured. He sold it in Hogwarts but dropped out of school and made millions of Galleons selling it in Hogsmeade and other magical cities. He tried to sell to muggles but the side effects were worse on them than actual pot- defying the purpose of John's work.

Ebony, being the only dealer and extremely rich held a lot of power over the student body. Despite her popularity, she spent most of her time by herself or with her friends Sirius or Terran. Mr and Mrs Black despised the Wiccapot's for their wealth, and also the fact that they had many muggle friends. This grudge was part of the reason Sirius loved his friendship with Ebony, but he was mostly in love with her houses. His favourite house of hers was probably her resort-like home on Ebon, where he had spent a couple of days at the beginning of the holidays. He had loved the beach and the pools and the endless luxuries, but Ebony had spent most of the time complaining about the weather and how it was "so much nicer in January."

When Sirius arrived, he was escorted to the elevator by Stanford, the butler. Sirius had questioned Ebony as to why they had a lift in a house with four staircases and a household of people who could apparate, but had regretted this after Ebony replied simply: "Lifts are good to have sex in. Apparently I was conceived in a lift.". He had since refrained from asking any more questions that could lead to answers that forced visions of Ebony's parents fornicating in a moving box.

Ebony and her older sister Sasha were watching television, an odd, but amazingly entertaining muggle invention. Sirius joined the two girls, who were laughing hysterically at the phoney perfection of _The Brady Bunch._

"How boring would life be if you were perfect?" Sasha giggled, ashing in the ashtray resting on her stomach.

"I know. How bored would you be if you had everything you could ever want and had absolutely no worries about anything?" Sirius asked as he entered. The two laughed and turned back to the TV. "No, seriously, don't you two get bored?"

"Only boring people get bored." Ebony replied as Sirius stepped over Sasha who was lying on the ground and sat next to Ebony on the couch.

"No one could ever be boring at this house." Sirius sighed. "Regulus isn't here."

…/…

Remus Lupin lay in bed, glad to be back to normal, but feeling like shit. He hated being a werewolf and hated how much his mother worried about him and he hated how much his father hated his 'condition'. There was so much hate in their family of so much love.

Remus looked at the clock hanging neatly by the door of his neat room. It was almost midday. He sat up and looked around his tidy room. He opened his tidy drawers and took out some neatly folded clothes. He looked at his neatly organised desk and sighed. His mother had cleaned his room while he had spent a few days in the basement as a wolf. He threw his dirty clothes on the floor and ignored his unmade bed. He liked things better that way. Disorganised things were far more interesting that boring organised. That was perhaps why he had become friends with James and Sirius. They were crazy, carefree and chaotic and Remus loved it, although he was far too sensible to admit it.

As Remus made his way into the modest kitchen, he greeted his mother, father, grandmother, uncle Caelum, aunt Lyra and his two cousins, Corona Austrina and Corona Borealis. The Lupin flat was not very big, but the two poor families enjoyed living together. The twins even stayed in their parents room when Remus was home so he could 'have some privacy'. Remus knew that it was really only because Lyra was scared of what he might do if he was left alone with her precious babies. She was a nice lady to 'normal' people, Remus just happened to be utterly abnormal.

After a quick breakfast, Remus went for a walk. He said he needed some fresh air after being cooped up in the basement, when really, all he needed was some Wiccapot. He began walking to Ebony's house, grateful that there was only one more day until school started.

…/…

Kimberley Grima lay in bed, visions of dreams swimming in her head. She often slept through the day, preferring to awake during the peace and enchantment of the night. Her eyes snapped open and she jumped out of bed. She started pulling pictures off her wall and, with weak muscles, slowly pushed a small bookshelf to the side of the room.

She reached under her bed and pulled her supply of paints out. Without any clear reason, she started painting a large picture of a black cat wearing a Santa hat. She was smiling more freely then she had for a very long time.

…/..

James Potter circled the pit, searching for the glinting golden snitch. He circled higher and higher, eyes darting desperately until something caught his eye. A girl in the crowd. She turned her head and her shiny red hair swished around her pale shoulders. James began an unintentional decent.

_It's her.._

The girl turned towards him, freckly brown eyed face revealed. James' heart dropped. He sighed then resumed his circling, trying to forget his momentary insanity

_Quidditch… Concentrate on Quidditch._

For the first time in his life, he couldn't wait for the long summer to conclude and the even longer school year to begin. It wasn't the school part he was looking forward to, more like the people he would be with… or want to be with.

…/…

Lily Evans sat on her window sill, sipping butterbeer and watching the children playing in the street. Her parents were arguing loudly in the next room. She heard her name and moved closer to the wall so she could listen.

"She's been perfect, then this. Lily has changed. She came back and suddenly she's rebelling!" Andrew growled to his wife. "You've seen what that damn school has done to her, with her cauldrons and owls and what not."

"Andrew, you don't get it do you?" Linda yelled back. "She's rebelling because she's a teenage girl, not because she's a witch."

"That's crap Linda, you know it is."

Lily sighed as the guilt swam through her. Her parents had supported her, were proud of her, when she has been accepted to Hogwarts. This summer everything had changed. Lily was sick of being perfect in the eyes of her parents and teachers and thought some excitement would change her feelings. Instead it changed her parents. For the first time ever, she felt she would not miss her parents when she returned to school. She loved her parents dearly, but after five years of Hogwarts, she felt she no longer belonged in the place she called home.

"I know no such thing." Linda snapped back, raising the volume again. "Lily made a mistake! She lied to us once-"

"That we know of."

"She lied. She went out behind our backs, she got in trouble and now she's sorry. It was the first thing she's ever done wrong and it was a shock." Linda continued, calming down slightly. "She's not perfect. No one is."

"We never had this problem Petunia. She never acted out this badly."

"Petunia isn't perfect either, Andrew. And anyway, Lily is special."

Lily laughed softly, "Stop licking the lightpost special Lily." She muttered, despite her guilt.

"She's bright, independent. She is opinionated, strong, stubborn. She believes in what she believes. You can't change that." Linda continued.

"I know. I know she's become independent... That doesn't mean I like it." Andrew replied, defeated.

Lily shook her head and moved to her desk, opening up her new Potions book. "One more day and I'll be back at Hogwarts. Back home."

* * *


	2. The Journey on the Hogwarts Express

**Chapter 2  
****The Journey on the Hogwarts express**

Lily was glad to get back to school, to be with her friends. To be with people that didn't flinch any time she looked them in the eye or made any sudden movements. She was free to be herself again. She was dressed in her newly purchased uniform, prefect badge pinned on the right hand side. She had bought new books and a new cauldron in preparation for the school year. She was actually excited to start her sixth year and as she boarded the train she made a promise to herself to start the new year fresh, to leave any negative feelings from the previous years behind and just concentrate on her work and the future.

The train ride on the Hogwarts express was eventful- as usual. She shared the prefect's compartment with the Ravenclaw prefects Josie Duderanch and Billy Martin and of course her fellow Gryffindor prefect, Remus Lupin. Who of course invited his friends to join them. Which of course meant Lily had to share the train ride with troublemakers Sirius Black and James Potter, and their weird little friend who they called Wormtail.

Lily usually would have given anything to make them go away but after the summer she had, she didn't mind the company of these stupid, but still funny and interesting guys. Besides, she couldn't break her promise before she had even arrived at school.

So they talked and laughed as the train took them out of London and into the country. They started to play eye spy but after cow, sheep, grass and fence, they ran out of things to spy. Consequently they started to talk about their summer holiday's. Lily felt disheartened when she heard the others stories.

Sirius had spent almost every day at Ebony's mansion, doing endless amounts of crazy things from dressing up in 1920's muggle clothes and playing croquet to breaking into houses and rearranging the furniture. James had gone to Portugal to compete in a Quidditch tournament and won, then caused havoc and ran amok and acted childish when Sirius came to visit, at least that's what Lily made of it.

Billy had gone to Australia and hooked up with three girls (Lily wasn't sure if he was telling the truth but thought it was likely, considering his looks and smooth personality). Josie had visited relatives in America and Wormtail had gone camping with his brothers. When everyone had finished telling their exciting tales, they turned to Lily.

"So what about you Lil, you look pretty relaxed. Have fun or what?" Sirius said, sitting back and putting his arm around Josie, who looked like all her dreams had come true all at once.

Lily paused, watching the expectant faces. She could make something up, but she really couldn't be bothered. She let it all come rushing out. "Fun? After my summer I think I've forgotten the meaning of the damn word. I spent three months listening to nothing but my sister bitching and my parents fighting. About a week ago I got fed up and snuck out to this old friend of mine was having and got completely trashed. I forgot to go home and my parents kind of freaked and the bitching and fighting got worse. I almost wasn't allowed back at school and… No I didn't have fun, I had the worst fucking summer ever." She took a deep breath and calmed down. "Hey, talking about your problems does make you feel better. I'm less stressed now."

Everyone in the carriage was silent for what seemed like the longest minute in long minute history. Finally James broke the silence. "Well at least Mooney had a worst summer than you. Summer's ten times hotter when you're covered in fur."

Remus elbowed him in the ribs. "What the fuck, man?"

James looked at Sirius who nodded at Billy and Josie.

James was good at bullshitting when it came to being late for class or caught making out in the storage room. ("We were looking for a mop and a spider crawled down her top, I was just being a gentleman and getting it out for her. You should really get an exterminator, or something.") But James' skills had failed him and he just sat there with a stupid fake smile on his face.

"You're so lame Potter," Lily said, mind working fast. "He's not really hairy, he's just gone through puberty, something which you haven't experienced yet."

"Fuck off Evans. You know I was talking-" Sirius kicked him in the shins. "About nothing. I think I hit my head before and my mind is ummm… broken or something."

"No I think it's been broken for a long, long time, Potter." Lily replied sweetly.

Confusion filled the faces of Josie, Billy and (for some reason) Wormtail. James attempted a smile, "So… um… I didn't think you were a party girl, Evans."

"I wasn't… and now I know why." Lily squirmed uncomfortably as James grinned genuinely and nodded his head. She didn't know why, but his attention often made her feel nervous. The fact that he didn't remove his glance when she finished speaking didn't help at all. She stared back at him, unwanted forces compelling her to not look away. Fortunately she was saved as the door slid open and Doris stuck her head in.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Ten Sickles and four Knuts later, the gaze was long forgotten and the group was talking and laughing.

Lily felt more comfortable when the conversation turned to OWLs. She was pleased to discover that she had received better grades than Josie, Sirius, Peter and Billy and almost identical grades to Remus, which wasn't surprising as they had studied for the exams together. The group then turned to James, who had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"How did you go, James?" Josie asked.

"Pretty good." He replied simply.

"Pretty good- 'I'm becomming the next Minister' or pretty good 'Where's a building I can fling myself from?'" Sirius said with a laugh.

"Well almost half of them were exceeds expectations." James finally revealed.

"Wow, you're the greatest James!" Peter said excitedly.

"What were the rest?" Billy pushed "Acceptable? Poor?"

"Dreadful? Troll?" Added Sirius.

James opened his mouth hesitantly.

"Oh, Merlin, you got Troll didn't you?" Sirius chortled.

"No, he didn't." Remus smiled warmly.

Lily caught onto what Remus meant. "The rest were Outstanding, weren't they?"

James turned to Lily as he nodded. It was the first time he had ever seen her look impressed by him. When he was made Quidditch Captain, one of his most proudest moments, she had simply rolled her eyes and said "Just something else for him to show off about." Now she was genuinely smiling at him, genuinely proud.

"Yeah, but you were the only one here that got an Outstanding in Potions. That's pretty impressive."

Lily blushed. "So what classes are you doing?"

Lily felt a tightness in her stomach as he announced his subjects; "Defence, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology." He would be in all the same classes as her, and for some reason this didn't annoy her at all. For some reason, it almost made her smile.

* * *

Lily and Remus were in a chamber off the Great Hall, waiting for Professor Dumbledore and the other Gryffindor prefects. Remus was sitting on the couch, staring at the floor while Lily walked around the room, looking at the portraits and stopping to talk to a portrait of a wizard with a walrus moustache. "Hi Golados, how are you?" 

"I'm alright young Lily, thank-you very much for-" he was interrupted by the sudden speech of the recently silent Remus.

"How did you know? Did James or Sirius tell you? Or was it Snape?" Remus was looking up, but avoiding eye contact.

"Sorry?" Lily had never known Remus to be so straightforward and abrupt.

"How do you know? On the train you seemed to know… that I am… well you know. Don't you?"

"That you're a…" Lily cast her eyes towards the door and lowered her voice. "Werewolf?"

Remus nodded.

"Well it's obvious, isn't it. I don't have shit for brains. I used to just think you disappeared for days at a time, then I noticed a pattern."

"The full moon." He looked straight into her eyes now. "I was stupid to think no one would realise."

"Well, not really. Most people at this school are pretty naïve. I'm not as simple minded. I suppose you could say it's a side effect of being muggle born. I notice the mysterious things that the others don't. They're all so used to the weirdness. I don't think I'll ever be." She sat down on the couch next to him. "Don't worry," she almost whispered. "I won't tell anyone. I mean, I've known for a while and haven't told a soul."

The door burst open and Professor Dumbledore rushed in followed by the other prefects.

"Alright, lets get started. Sorry we took so long. I had to deal with…" He looked at Remus and laughed heartily. "Well you know who. You're friends are quite the mischief makers. Brilliant minds, sick sense of humour."

Dumbledore looked around the room. "Are we all here? Great. Samuel, Rebecca, congratulations on making prefects. This is Lily, Remus, Joanne and Anthony. Of course you probably know that already, but if you ever has any questions, problems, they are the people to ask." He took a quick breath. "The password for the Gryffindor common room is le palmier, for remembrance of your summer holiday. Remember to show the first years the way, we don't want them wondering around the castle, never know what they'll run into…"

Lily's eyes went blurry as she started to tune out. The train ride had been long and tiring, she wanted nothing more that to skip dinner and go straight to bed. But she had to force herself to stay awake for another couple of hours, or at least until the sorting had finished. As she stared straight ahead at nothing in particular, she had a vision of James Potter coming into the room, picking her up in his strong arms and carrying her to her dorm where he would lay her down on her bed and gently stroke her hair until she eventually drifted off to sleep…

She snapped back into reality when Remus gently nudged her.

"You still with us Miss Evans?" Dumbledore asked.

"I am now, Professor."

"Good, we can go then." Lily yawned and followed the other prefects into the Great Hall, where the first years were filing in, looking up at the enchanted ceiling with amazement and all looking nervous and excited at the same time.

Lily remembered her first day at Hogwarts, she remembered being followed around by James Potter and Sirius Black who had already become friends and started in their mischievous ways.

"Stop following me, losers."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans." James responded immediately.

"Why would I want to go out with a scrawny nerd like you, Potter?"

"Nerd? No one's ever called me a nerd before. I think you're seriously mistaken, you see, I'm not a nerd. I'm not scrawny and I'm not a loser. And a goody-goody muggle-born isn't going to tell me any different." He ran his hand through his already messy hair and smiled a killer smile. "But I will leave you alone."

He turned and left, bag swinging on his shoulder.

She hated him. He was so annoying, so conceited, such a show-off.

So why was she thinking about him? Why did she think about him now differently than she thought about him three months earlier? Lily shook her head and blamed her awful summer, then hurried back to the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table, carefully choosing a seat as far away from James Potter as possible.

_If you can't beat it, avoid it…_

At the other end of the table, James was ignoring Wormtail's story about the rat who held the world record for finding cheese in a maze. He sat with a fork in one hand, head supported by the other, staring at the fire of a candle and lost in his own thoughts. The return to Hogwarts had reminded him why he had a crush on the muggle born.


	3. An Interesting Morning

Chapter 3  
An... Interesting Morning

The next day, James Potter woke up early, ready for a new day of fun. There were girls to impress, first years to scare, teachers to annoy. He couldn't wait. He made his way down to the Great Hall, which was almost deserted. He looked around, searching for someone he knew.

Slytherin first years, no.

Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, no way.

Pretty third year, hmmm…

Who else could he harass or show off to. Or both. Who?

Aaaah perfect.

"Hey Evans," there she was, thick red hair shining in the enchanted morning sunlight.

"What do you want Potter?"

"Ah, I don't know. Well, yes I do. I guess I just wanted so say…" To buy some time he swung one leg over the long bench and sat, facing Lily so he could look into her green eyes and almost see her soul. "Thanks for yesterday."

"What did I do yesterday?"

"You saved Mooney on the train. I would've been in deep shit if you hadn't said anything. So thanks. You're a real friend."

"Yeah, too bad you aren't." Lily didn't need to hear James be nice to her, her feelings about him were confusing enough already. "You really could have got him in trouble, but you don't think before you open that fat mouth of yours, do you?"

"Look, I know you think I'm a dickhead, but everyone makes mistakes. We're not all perfect like you, Evans. Mooney's my mate. I'd never let anything happen to him, but you're right, sometimes I need to think before I talk."

"Stop acting like you give a shit about everyone else. I know how you treat people like they aren't important, like you're superior."

"Like who?"

"Snape." Lily didn't particularly care about the treatment of Snape, but it was the first name that came to her head.

"Fuck, that evil bastard?" James laughed. "He deserves it."

"And you have to be the one to make him pay, right?"

"Well who else has the balls to?"

"That's all life is to you, balls?"

"It's complicated, Evans. Snape's just always in our way. He keeps sticking his nose in where it's not welcome." James stood up angrily, "And in case you've forgotten, I came here to thank you, not to be lectured."

"If you thought I'd have just smiled and accepted it, you really underestimated me."

"And if you think that I'll let anything happen to my friends, then you're underestimating me. Goodbye." James exhaled loudly and trudged back to his dorm, passing three hot girls and not even noticing.

Lily sat at the Gryffindor table, completely confused.

Why was he so nice to me, and why did he care when I wasn't nice back? Why did he care at all? He's never given a fuck about anything. That's what I like about him. Like? Why did I say that? I don't like him. I hate him. Don't I?

As Lily sat, slowly eating her breakfast and wondering what was wrong with her, Sirius and Ebony entered the Great Hall. Sirius did not look anywhere near as cheerful as he usually did, and Ebony looked even worse. They sat down on either side of Lily in silence, staring at the empty plates that had appeared before them. Lily opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but decided against it. She did not want to have another horrible conversation before classes had even begun.

The silence continued for several more minutes until finally Sirius spoke. "We should just get married."

"Sure, I'll buy the dress and you can stab me in the face." Ebony responded instantly.

"If I hated you enough to stab you in the face, there would be no issue."

"You don't hate me at all."

"I know. It sucks. I wish I wanted to stab you in the face." Sirius muttered indifferently.

"And I wish I wanted to marry you." Ebony finally removed her focus from her empty plate and looked at Sirius.

"I think they'd prefer me to go to Azkaban for stabbing you in the face then get married to you."

"But that's the thing. I don't want to marry you; you don't want to marry me. A hot girl and a hot guy can be friends. The two don't automatically equal eternity." Ebony said angrily.

"They're not worried about eternity." Sirius growled. "How dare they threaten me? I hate them, I hate them. I want to stab THEM in the face."

Lily opened her mouth again, but closed it straight away, shaking her head.

"Oh, sorry Lily." Ebony said, acknowledging her at last. "It's been a bad morning, a bad complicated morning."

"Anything concerning the Black's is bad and complicated." Sirius added.

Lily concluded that she had two choices, she could either open her mouth and ask what had happened, or leave the two in peace and stay out of it. She was just about to stand up and leave when Sirius sighed, "Maybe you could help us out Lily."

Ebony glimpsed Sirius's watch and gasped "Yes, Sirius tell Lily and she will help you, I've got to go meet a cust- friend. Got to meet a friend." With that she ran off, leaving Lily with no choice but to listen to Sirius.

"So, what happened? Should I help you pick a ring?" Lily asked tentatively.

"Hey, you just made a joke." Sirius said with a grin. "I like that you're finally letting your humorous side show, but you couldn't have picked a worse time. You see I can't fully appreciate it. My parents suck."

"Oh, so they're the ones you're going to stab?"

"Yes, I mean, no. They're the ones making want to stab, and I can't do anything about it. They threatened me."

"Threatened you? How?"

"Okay, here's the thing. My parents are insane. My mother has this obsession, as if it was carved on the inside of her eyelids. She's a bloodline freak."

"Oh…" Lily quickly looked down at her lap, not sure how to feel about the conversation. She always felt guilty when people talked about bloodlines and muggle borns, she always felt different, like she didn't belong.

"Hey, I'm not like that. People's blood means as much to me as cleanliness does to Professor Sprout. I take no notice of it. If you're a good person, you're a good person. Full blood or not."

Lily smiled. "You said full blood."

"Yeah, so?"

"Most full blood wizards say 'pure blood', not full blood."

"I'm not most wizards." Sirius smiled back. "You've known me long enough to know that I'm a little different to everyone else here. I'm one of a kind… and not for sale. I know what you mean though. My family motto, Toujours Pur."

"Always pure."

"And always insane. Anyway, back to my story. As you know, my parents are insane."

"Yes, insane parents. Normal son…"

"Another joke! You better not make this a habit." He laughed. "Okay, so the short of it is, my parents are trying to control me. I don't think like the rest of the freaks in my family. I'm not Regulus, I'm totally me. I have my own mind and it drives my parents' nuts. The example that I will be informing you of today will prove to you just how nuts they are." He paused dramatically and looked up at Lily. "They're banning my friendship with Ebony."

"What?"

"I woke up this morning and an owl was sitting at the window. This owl was holding a lovely little note from my mother saying I was no longer permitted to continue my friendship with Ebony and that my charming brother Regulus would be keeping an eye on my and reporting back."

"Why?"

"Oh, he's probably trying to get back into his good book. He didn't make prefect, you see-"

"No, why aren't you allowed to be friends with Ebony."

"Apparently she's a blood traitor. She has muggle friends and so does most of her family. I reckon Mum's just jealous because she hasn't got as many friends. Do you believe that she's nuts now?"

"Never doubted you, but if I had needed proof…"

"In my first year, she made me tell her who my friends were and she checked them out. It was only by chance I managed to get full blood friends. She probably would've made me change houses if she knew you were in Gryffindor. I mean, not that she knows about Moony, but she would prefer me to be friends with a werewolf than a muggle born. Moony told me you knew." He added.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well normally I would tell them to fuck off. Normally I would do the opposite of what they told me to do, but this time they stooped low. If I keep talking to Ebony, they're kicking me out and pulling me out of school. I can't afford to pay to come here with my own money, let alone a place to live." Sirius dropped his voice, "I know you think I'm a bit of a joke, that I don't take this place seriously, but I do. I love it here. It would take a hundred dragons to take me out of here."

Just as it had been the first occasion that Sirius had heard Lily joke, it was the first time Lily had heard Sirius being intense. She sat quietly for a moment as Sirius helped himself to some breakfast.

"I can't believe you took that." Lily said finally. "In all the years I've known you, I've never seen you give up so easily."

"But I told you…"

"I think you will be able to get around it. You have friends who you can stay with in the holidays and then when we graduate you can get a job and rent a place. As for the school, they always make room for special cases. If you told Dippit exactly what you told me, about loving this place, I'm sure you could figure something out with him."

"You're telling me to move out?"

"I'm saying that you will be able to. Unless you have any other reasons for staying."

"Definitely not." Sirius grinned, "But I don't think Dippit is a good idea. He hates me way too much."

"Dippit has no power anyway. Everyone's just counting down the days until Dumbledore becomes headmaster."

"Then I guess I'm going to have a little chat with Dumbledore. Good thing I have Transfiguration first thing."

"You have five minutes to class. I suggest you don't be late. It may affect his decision." Lily advised.

"I better go get my books then." He stood up. "And Lily, thank-you. I've really underestimated you." He leant down and gave her a hug.

"I don't think you're the only one."

Sirius exited quickly and Lily gathered up her things. The already long morning had taken a turn. She looked up at the clear blue sky above her and beamed. She hadn't given up on the day just yet.


	4. Figuring it Out

-1**Chapter Four**

**Figuring it out.**

Remus caught up with Lily on their way to Transfiguration. He was looking ragged and tired as usual, carrying a pile of books in one hand and an apple in the other.

"Morning Lily. Transfiguration?" He asked before taking a bite of his apple.

"Are we in all the same classes again?" Lily asked, eyeing his books.

"Almost, but I'm assuming you're doing potions, whereas I am not."

"Yeah, you were kind of surprisingly bad at Potions, I mean, in comparison to other subjects..." Lily said as she entered the classroom.

"Hey, don't hold back. Compared to you, I was a teacher's worst nightmare." Remus replied with a laugh as he followed her.

"Speaking of a teacher's worst nightmare..." Lily said as she took a seat next to Sirius.

Sirius laughed, "You're going to kill me with these jokes today, Lily."

Remus sat on the other side of Lily and continued to eat his apple.

Lily leaned closer to Sirius. "Do you know what you're going to say?"

"Well I was thinking that saying 'please' will be a good idea. Dumbledore can't resist manners."

"Are you planning on saying anything else?"

"Yeah, I'll figure that out."

Remus threw his apple core across the classroom, flicking his wand to open the window seconds before the core reached it.

"Cool." Sirius grinned, "You've been practicing."

"Padfoot, you can't practice pure talent." Remus responded instantly, "And if you want my advice, don't start by saying 'I know I've caused a lot of trouble, but…'"

"Look guys, I'll figure it out." Sirius sighed and opened his book just as Professor Dumbledore entered the room, closely followed by James and Peter. The two boys sat on the spare seats at the other side of the classroom.

"Good to see you all eagerly awaiting to begin this new year of education." Professor Dumbledore said from the front of the room. "Today we'll be going over everything that you will be learning this year and making some highly important notes, but not to worry, next lesson we will be starting practical lessons."

Sirius didn't mind spending the lesson writing notes. It gave him time to organise what he was going to say to Professor Dumbledore.

As the others packed up and left the room, Sirius stayed behind, slowly making his way to the front of the room.

"Professor, can I have a word?" He asked as politely as he could.

"Take a seat, Sirius." The Professor seated himself opposite Sirius at his desk. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Problem?" Sirius said nervously.

"You are a very independent and resourceful young man, Mr Black-"

"Sirius." He injected habitually.

"Sorry, Sirius. What I was saying is that by you approaching me alone, very seriously, indicates to me that you have a problem that you cannot fix. You would only come to me if you were…well, desperate."

"I suppose I am a bit. It's something a bit more challenging than I'm used to. It involves my family."

"Ah, yes, the Black's do have a bit of a reputation for being challenging, but I believe most of that reputation was built by you."

Sirius laughed, lightening up slightly. "I didn't want to go to Professor Dippit. I figured you would be more likely to understand."

"Understand what exactly?"

"It's complicated. First off I want you to know that I love this school. Here I have the best friends, the best memories, the best education- both in and out of class. I wouldn't be me if I hadn't come here. This school has shaped me."

"Well it is a fine school. I missed it so much that I came back as a teacher." Professor Dumbledore stood up and walked to the window. "There's something about the community of this school, something special, even magical. It is the beginning of every young witch and wizard's life, the start of their experiences. For some, like you I'm sure, the friendships and memories made at Hogwarts will stay with you forever."

Sirius stared down at the table in front of him. "I don't want to leave, but I don't want to stay with my parents." He sat in silence for a few moments before looking up at Professor Dumbledore. "I'm moving out of home. I can't live with people who treat me like they do. I want to choose my own friends and my own life. The only problem is I can't afford to come here without my parents money."

"So you've come to borrow money?" Professor Dumbledore chuckled.

"You know why I've come here."

Professor Dumbledore walked back to the desk and took his seat. "It takes a lot of courage to ask for help. Did the sorting hat tell you why it sorted you into Gryffindor."

"It said 'too rowdy for Ravenclaw, too headstrong for Hufflepuff, but too silly for Slytherin and brave enough to admit all that.' Gryffindor was the only place where I would fit in."

"And the sorting hat was not wrong. You do fit into Gryffindor. The friends you have made in your house have become more like your family then your blood relatives have ever been."

"Does that mean I can stay?" Sirius asked tentatively.

"At Hogwarts, help is always given to those who ask for it." the Professor smiled warmly, "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank-you Sir. You have no idea how grateful I am."

"I suppose it's useless to ask you to try and improve your behaviour this year."

"Definitely, Sir. I'm sorry, but this place has made me who I am and I'm not changing."

"I didn't think so."

Sirius left the classroom with a huge grin on his face.


	5. Nobody puts Snape in the Corner

**Chapter Five  
****Nobody puts Snape in a Corner**

Lily entered the Potions dungeon with a small rush of excitement. She knew she was probably the only one who looked forward to Potions, but it was easily her favourite class and Professor Slughorn was easily her favourite teacher.

"Lily!" The Professor exclaimed as she crossed the threshold, "Welcome back, dear girl. Are you looking forward to your classes this year?"

"You bet I am Professor. I've missed your Potions classes."

"Just my Potions classes? What about my parties?"

"I've missed them too. Have you got anymore planned?" Lily asked as she took her seat.

"Actually I have. There'll be one in a couple of weeks, hopefully."

"I can't wait."

James walked into the classroom, closely followed by Sirius and Peter. He avoided Lily's eyes and was about to make his way to the back of the class when Sirius smiled at Lily and motioned to his friends to sit with her.

"Hey Evans." Sirius said as he sat beside her, James and Peter following. "It worked, I think. He said he'll see what he can do. I owe it all to you. You're a genius. Thank you so much."

"Well.." Lily blushed slightly, lost for words.

The groups attention was shifted when another student entered the room. Sirius's grin disappeared as he watched Severus Snape hurry to the back of the classroom, eye's darting between the group and the floor.

"Look at the freak." Peter whispered, "I can't believe you told him about that prank, Prongs. We should have gotten rid of him when we had the chance."

James glanced nervously at Lily and then distracted himself by unpacking his bag.

"Gotten rid of him?" Lily asked quietly.

"Yeah, he's such a loser. He called you a mudblood and he was mean to Sirius's friend, Kimberley. We were going to teach him a lesson, but James pulled out."

"Shut up, Wormtail. You don't know what you're talking about." James looked over his shoulder as the last of the class arrived.

"Yes I do. You saved his life, his worthless life."

"Shut the fuck up." James sneered.

Sirius cleared his throat loudly and opened his book. "I wonder what we're doing today? I hope it's easy. If we go well we'll get invited to the slug club parties again."

"He's got one planned soon." Lily said, still curious about the previous exchange between Peter and James.

James didn't say a word for the rest of the class and packed up quickly at the end. "I've got to find Remus." He muttered as he rushed from the classroom.

As Lily stood up, Sirius punched Peter's shoulder. "You're such an idiot. Why did you have to bring that shit up? You know he's still touchy about that night."

Lily waved goodbye to the Professor as she left the classroom and made her way to the library.

* * *

James sat in a chamber at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Gryffindor tower. He pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket and unfolded it carefully. He pulled his wand from his pocket and touched the parchment with it.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He muttered, and smiled as the map appeared. The marauders map was one of James's favourite achievements. It took the marauders over a year to complete their research and create the four maps.

James spotted Lily almost instantly. She was walking near the Great Hall with Professor Slughorn. James imagined the two chatting about Potions theories and the slug club. He had been invited to the Professor's parties and get togethers constantly, but had never gone. Sirius had gone to a couple with Kimberley and Ebony. Lily had gone to almost all of them. James was thinking vaguely about whether he would be invited to the next party when he noticed Lily had parted with the Professor and was walking towards the Gryffindor Tower. James stood up and made his way to the door to meet her as she approached.

As his hand touched the handle he stopped. He had almost forgotten about the fight they had had the week before. How would she react when she saw him? Would she be angry again?

James leant against the door and watched her on the map as she passed. He sighed and watched her make her way up the stairs, into the Gryffindor common room, past the two extremely close dots belonging to Sirius and his current girlfriend Penny, and into her dorm.

His eyes moved from Lily as he scanned the map. Remus wasn't on the map. It was a wolf night so he would be in the shrieking shack, waiting for his friends to sneak out and join him. Ebony and her friend Terran were in the owlery, Filch and Mrs Norris were roaming the corridors, Peter was in the Kitchens, doing what rats do best and Professor Dumbledore was with Professor Dippit in his office.

Just as James was about to pack up, another dot caught his eye. Severus Snape was moving slowly near the Quidditch pitch, heading in the direction that Remus had been hours previously. James cleared the map and ran up to the common room where he found Sirius and Penny getting to know each others tongues.

"Oi, love birds. Break it up."

Sirius pulled himself away from Penny to look at his watch. "I said I'd meet you at ten."

"This is important. I'm serious."

"Well I'm busy, Prongs."

"Yeah? Well, you're about to get a whole lot busier. I saw Snivilshit snooping around the Quidditch pitch, and if I'm right, which I usually am- he was walking right towards the Whomping Willow."

Sirius pushed Penny off him and snatched the now blank paper off James and pulled out his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He studied the map for a moment. "Bastard's almost there. What do you want to do?"

But James had already started up the stairs, no doubt on the way to get his invisibility cloak.

Penny whined. "Sirius baby, you can't just leave me here."

Sirius looked at her pouting lips and flinched. What had he seen in her?

"Ahh, Penny, babe, you've been great. But I… I think we should see other people."

"What? We've barely seen each other."

"I know, but we're just too different for this to work out."

Penny tried to reply but it was too late, James had already pulled his friend out of the portrait hole, leaving her alone and confused, like so many of Sirius's ex's.


	6. Unwelcome Prowlers

**Chapter Six  
****Unwelcome Prowlers**

James and Sirius slipped out of the huge entrance doors and ran behind a tree.

"That was close," Sirius puffed, pulling off the invisibility cloak. "I swear that cat can see us in this thing."

"What now?" James usually gave the orders, but there were a million ideas swimming in his head.

"We find him, stop him from killing himself and then..."

"We kill him. Let's go." James started running as fast as he could towards the Whomping Willow, Sirius beside him.

As he ran, Sirius turned into a dog and bolted ahead of his friend, desperate to get to Snape before he did whatever he was about to do.

The truth was James and Sirius had a pretty good idea of what he was up to. One full moon at the end of their fifth year, while Remus was in the shrieking shack, the remaining marauders decided to play a prank on Snape. They told him to touch the knot in the trunk of the Whomping Willow and see what was at the other end of the passage. Being an idiot, Snape complied. At the last minute, James realised the consequences and stopped him, telling him the passage led to his imminent death. He did not particularly care about Snape's life, but had realised that the prank could lead to his dear friend Remus becoming a murderer. He had also realised that if Snape somehow managed to survive, he would find out Remus's secret, and it would become a whole lot less secret

Snape sneaking around the Whomping Willow during a full moon was nothing but a bad sign. James and Sirius had to find and stop him before the averted consequences of the previous year became once again possible.

When James finally reached the Whomping Willow, all was quiet, the tree itself was thrashing around, causing bats and small animals from all around too scatter. He stood panting, looking around for Snape or Sirius.

Just as he decided that there was no one close by, a huge back dog leapt out from behind a tree, pounding him into the floor. With a painful grunt, he tried to get up again. As he did, he saw the guilty face of Sirius looking down at him.

"Sorry dude, thought you were him." Sirius apologised as he helped his friend to his feet. "You're just as scrawny."

"You sure are stronger as a dog than a person." James wiped him back absently as he looked around. "You should consider making the change permanent."

"So you keep suggesting."

"Where is he?" James asked as he pulled the map from his pocket.

"Haven't seen him."

James searched the map for several minutes, eyes squinted behind his glasses. "There."

He took off around the thrashing branches of the tree, wand at the ready. As he got closer to the spot on the map, he slowed down. He looked around, but could see nothing.

The two boys jumped when they heard a deep groan coming from behind a nearby shrub. It sounded like a dying animal- it was.

"Snivellus, what the fuck are you doing?" Sirius gave him a swift kick in the gut.

He just groaned even louder.

"He's covered in blood and bruises. My guess in he tried to get past the branches, idiot." James gave him another kick, this time in the balls.

Sirius leant down and grabbed Snape by the scruff of the neck. "What are you doing out here?"

Snape coughed as he tried to speak. Sirius shook him violently.

"I-I… what are you doing out here?" He stuttered.

"Stopping you from being an idiot, but it's pretty damn hard. You'll always be an idiot." Sirius snarled as he pulled Snape up off the ground, and with James' help, forced him to stand up. "What are you doing out here?"

"I just wanted to confirm my suspicion. I've been r-researching ever since l-last year. H-he's a werewolf." Snape managed to say, though painfully, "I just wanted to see it."

Sirius punched him in the stomach. James helped Snape stay upright, while saying to him "You're an absolute git, you know that? You could get yourself killed. Werewolf? You're unbelievable. This is a school, not a zoo. Next you'll tell me there are dogs and rats that can talk and dance living in our dorm."

"Dance?" Sirius scoffed.

"I've seen you dance. It's not pretty." James replied smartly.

"What's goin' on here?" A booming voice caused James and Sirius to simultaneously drop Snape and turn to a giant figure behind them.

Hagrid was only about ten years older than James and Sirius, but was almost as tall as the two of them put together. Rumoured to have been expelled in his early years, Hagrid worked as games keeper and knew the ground of Hogwarts like the back of his giant, hairy hand.

"Hagrid, it's us." James said, stepping towards him.

"What did yeh do to him?" Hagrid asked, nodding at the heap on the ground that was Snape.

"It's Snape." Sirius replied, "He was hanging around the Whomping Willow."

Hagrid looked up, "Full moon."

"Exactly." James spat, "The stupid git tried to get passed the tree."

"He coulda killed 'imself. If not from the tree, from what's on the other side of the passage." Hagrid refrained from kicking him but instead bent down to see if he was all right. For a guy that big, he was pretty compassionate.

"Hagrid," James said, still panting slightly from his long run. "Can you make sure he gets back to the castle?"

"O' cause I can."

"And Hagrid," Sirius added, "Not a word about who helped you find him. We have reputations."

Hagrid gave a meaningful nod, hoisted the simpering Snape over his shoulder and set off along the grounds, towards the castle.

When he was sure they were safe, James pulled a small rat out of the folds of the invisibility cloak. Wormtail was a stupid little thing, but he always managed to find his friends when they needed him the most.

"Take us to him." James whispered and set the rat on the grass. It took off straight away, running through the maze of branches, to a small knot on the trunk of the tree.

As James walked the passage with his friends, he wondered if Lily would feel any different if she knew that James had helped a daft moron like Snape.


	7. Daydream

**Chapter Seven  
Daydream**

The next day, Sirius and James sat in Defence Against the Dark Arts class, but instead of their usual behaviour (showing off and harassing whatever Professor had them) they sat, staring out the window, wondering how much Snape knew.

Lily sat in the back corner and instead her usual behaviour (her morning class's homework and occasional note taking), she sat, staring at the empty desks of Snape, wondering what could have happened to make him miss class. Her eyes also slid to the empty desk of Remus and the empty faces of Sirius and James. She knew they were somehow involved, but how? If they had hurt Snape, they wouldn't be staring blankly into space, they would be celebrating and congratulating each other on a job well done, wouldn't they?

Ebony had also noticed the absence of the usual entertainment provided by her friends. She tore part of her parchment off and scrawled a note on it to pass to them.

You guys look like you need some chill time in the Wiccapot room. I have bourbon. Eight, after dinner?

James read the note over Sirius's shoulder and nodded at Ebony. He knew that after the night before, they should stay away from their usual full moon behaviour and stay in the castle. There was too much of a risk of being caught. As he turned away from Ebony, James noticed Lily staring at nothing in particular and wondered what she was thinking.

But Lily's mind wasn't in the mood for thinking. It wanted to dream. So once again, as they sometimes did, her thoughts slipped out of reality and into the world of James Potter.

He was on the other side of the classroom, behind his glasses, his deep dark eyes were staring into Lily's. She stared back, a compelling urge forcing her to. The bell went, but they did not move. They were alone now; just the two of them, the world fell away. There was nothing more important than keeping eye contact. Lily kept staring at those handsome brown eyes that were getting closer and closer until they stopped in front of her face. She reached out and took off his glasses. He stroked her cheek lightly with the tips of his fingers. She closed her eyes, knowing it was wrong, but wanting it all the same. She felt his soft breath against her cheek, the warmth of his hand as it reached towards her. He licked his lips, trying to withhold his passion. He wanted nothing more than to take her there and then. Instead, he slipped his hands around her waist, drawing her closer with his strong, but gentle arms. She opened her eyes again; wanting to see his beautiful eyes once more before…

Ding ding ding.

The real bell went, forcing Lily back into reality. She shook her head and looked around. Most of the class were already rushing out of the classroom. James, however, remained seated, watching as Professor Belkin hurried nervously from the room. They were alone now, just like in Lily's thoughts. But she wasn't staring into his eyes, in fact, she was avoiding his gaze altogether, not sure what he wanted from her.

James reached up to run his hand through his hair, but remembered that she didn't like that and put it back down again. He grabbed his books and made his way to her table. Lily packed up the last of her things and stood up, not sure whether to give him acknowledgment or to ignore him and leave. Before she had the chance to make up her mind, he spoke. Not in his usual cruel, mocking voice, but in a kind, mature voice. A voice that Lily had only heard when he was talking to her.

"You looked like you were falling asleep there."

"Yeah, almost did." Lily admitted as she stopped walking and turned around to look at James. "You looked like you were having a hard time keeping your eyes open too."

Your big, brown, beautiful eyes…

"I was awake enough to notice that you looked like you were dreaming. You looked happy."

"Happy, yeah. I was dreaming of falling asleep"

James noticed a suspicious look creeping onto Lily's face and went straight to the back-up plan. "Well, anyway. I wanted to ask you something, that's why I'm here."

"Ask away, but if you ask me to go out with you, I'm afraid I'm going to have to slap you."

"Oh, It's no big deal. It's just you already know about Mooney, so I figured it's all right to ask you. Um, we usually take notes for him, while he's…er…away. But if you didn't notice, Sirius and I kind of forgot to show up to Charms today. Mooney kind of likes to catch up on the stuff he's missed, so I thought maybe you could lend him your work?"

Lily smiled at the nervous James and shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? You had the initiative to ask so I might as well help out a friend." Neither of them knew which friend she was helping out. She had called Remus a friend before, but was she doing this for James as well? That daydream and they polite manner in which he had talked to her had left her with a tingly feeling. So as she pulled out a neatly covered workbook and handed it to James, she added.

"You know, sometimes you can be a really nice guy. It's normally when no one else is around, but it's good to know you're capable of it."

With that, she turned to leave the classroom, long red hair swaying slightly. James looked down at Lily's book and grinned.

"Hey Evans."

Lily turned back around. "Yes Potter."

"Me and Sirius and Ebony and some others were going to hang out tonight. Do you want to join us?" James asked, trying to sound casual. Lily didn't answer. "It's not a date." He added, attempting a laugh.

Lily smiled and walked back to the desk, "I guess I can make myself available."

"Cool. Come to the Great Hall for dinner at seven thirty and we'll meet you there." This time James started to leave the room but was stopped by Lily.

"Hey Potter."

James froze.

"Why didn't Snape come to class today?"

James didn't turn around, "He didn't? Hmm, didn't notice. See you tonight."

He disappeared out the door, leaving Lily with mixed emotions. He used to seem so easy to figure out, so obviously obnoxious and attention seeking, but Lily realised that she'd had it all wrong. He wasn't obvious, he was enigmatic and complicated. He had so many secrets, so many layers. He was so confusing. So why did she like him so much?


End file.
